Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email our team at rundown@multiversitycomics.com.
In case you missed it, “Suicide Squad: Dream Team” will see Nicole Maines and Eddy Barrows place Dreamer at the center of the next Task Force X ongoing, while AWA announced the neo-western crime thriller “Little Black Book.”
– IDW Publishing and BOOM! Studios will reunite for “Godzilla vs. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers II,” a sequel to 2022’s crossover series, written again by Cullen Bunn, and with Baldemar Rivas (who previously worked with Bunn on “Unearth”) taking over from Freddie Williams II on art. The five-issue series will see Rita Repulsa, now allied with Power Rangers in Space big bad Astronema, expand her reach across the multiverse, dispatching all kinds of new foes against the Power Rangers and the King of the Monsters. The first chapter will be released on April 3 (the week before Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hits theaters), with a Cover A by Freddie Williams II, a Cover B by Alex Sanchez, and a retail incentive variant by Hendry Prasetya.
– BOOM! also announced “Dune: House Corrino,” an eight-part adaptation of the final novel in the Prelude to Dune trilogy. Authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson will return to script the comic book version of their 2001 novel, which will be drawn by Simone Ragazzoni. Each issue will be oversized, with a 33-page count. Issue #1 will be released in March (the same month as the cinematic Dune, Part Two), with a main cover by Raymond Swanland, and variants by Veronica Fish and Rebeca Puebla.
– J.M. DeMatteis and artist Michael Sta. Maria (“Draculina”) are teaming up on “Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin,” a four-issue miniseries set during Peter Parker’s early days. It will follow up on the story of the Proto-Goblin, aka Norman Osborn’s research assistant/guinea pig Nels van Adder, who previously only appeared in 1997’s ‘Flashback’ special “Spider-Man” #-1. DeMatteis says, “If you think you know everything there is to know about Peter and the Osborns, think again!” Issue #1 will be released on April 3.
– DC unveiled an “Ape-ril Special,” a 48-page showcase for the company’s talking monkeys, that will be released in time for Ape-ril Fools’ Day. The book will see Monsieur Mallah try to start a new Legion of Doom, causing the all-ape Jungle League to form against him. It will feature stories by John Layman, Joshua Hale Fialkov, and Gene Luen Yang with art by Karl Mostert, Phil Hester and Bernard Chang, and arrive in stores on March 19, with a main cover by Dan Mora, a regular variant by Bernard Chang, and a “Banana Scent” variant by Hayden Sherman. (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be released later on May 24 in case you were wondering.)
– Oni Press will publish “Boulet’s Notes: Back in Time,” a hardcover collection of French webcomic creator Boulet (real name Gilles Roussel)’s work. It will feature nearly 300 pages of comic strips and cartoons from his 22-year career. Boulet, 48, was one of the first cartoonists to become popular in his homeland after establishing a blog, although his work remains obscure in the US. The book will be released on June 11, 2024.
– Captain America: Brave New World has a new screenwriter, Matthew Orton, who will pen the film’s reshoots next year. Orton previously worked at Marvel Studios as a writer and producer on Moon Knight, and his other projects include Operation Finale and Devil’s Peak. Brave New World, starring Anthony Mackie and directed by Julius Onah, was originally scripted by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier writers Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson (who initially titled it New World Order no less.) The last two months of filming took place during the WGA strike, which presumably played a role in the movie being delayed until February 14, 2025.
– Disney revealed season two of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will have a two-part premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD on Friday, February 2, which will be added to Disney+ with more episodes the next day. They also revealed an enormous list of guest stars, which includes Jonathan Banks, Cynthia Erivo, Giancarlo Esposito, Andy Garcia, Arsenio Hall, Manny Jacinto, Xolo Maridueña, Parker Posey, David Tennant, and Robin Thede, in addition to the previously disclosed Peter Weller and Edward James Olmos (who is voicing Molecule Man.)
– Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse picked up three nominations at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, namely Best Animated Feature, Best Score, and Best Visual Effects. The Boy and the Heron, Nimona, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem were also nominated for Best Animated Feature, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 garnered a nomination for Visual Effects. Barbie received the most nominations, with a record-breaking 18, the most in the awards’ history. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday, January 14, which will be broadcast live on The CW.
– Finally, reports have emerged that Canadian voice actress Pauline Newstone passed away earlier this year on May 5. She was 69 years old. Newstone was best known for originating the role of Airazor on Beast Wars: Transformers, and for being Frieza’s initial English dub voice on Dragon Ball Z. Other projects during her career, which lasted from 1973 to 2020, included X-Men: Evolution (where she voiced Agatha Harkness), Kong: The Animated Series, Ninjago, Mummies Alive!, The Cramp Twins, Help! I’m a Fish, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Monster Rancher, Inuyasha, the DIC G.I. Joe series, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and Roswell Conspiracies.
